HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's Festival of Britain Mural

Monday, 28 February 2011

There has been a lot of speculation in recent years on the Theatre Royal Cinemas on what was going to happen with them. I am glad that there is an active group that are trying hard to renovate and re-open the cinemas - It's such a shame that the building is in private hands though. Hyde could do with these re-opening as cinemas as you have to travel to Ashton to watch a film now.

Theatre Royal 2

As seen from Onward Street / Henry Street

It will be such a shame if this building is allowed to deteriorate to such a state that it has to be demolished.

Visit the website below for details on the Theatre Royal and efforts to preserve it.

Talbot House is on Great Norbury Street... it is this building which had the stables which is accessed from Chapel street. Dave took these picture for us again, as the building is of interest. If you know anything about it's past please let us know.. especially the Coat Of Arms. I have tried finding reference to this but drew a blank.

Sunday, 27 February 2011

I find it sad when pictures like this come to light, nothing written on the back, no name or date. He looks a very distinguished gentleman.. sat here at 'Beales Bro's Clarendon Place. I'm sure there must be many many more pictures out there in the back of a drawer, the sitter now long gone and maybe through time their name forgotten.. if you think you have any such pictures as this maybe we could start a collection of them... if nothing else it shows the fashions off, and being displayed here will keep them from being lost and forgotten for evermore.

Friday, 25 February 2011

Hyde had it's very own 'Town Yard' in times gone by and part of the wall is still standing today... just! as can be seen on the map and the pictures that Dave's provided.

The picture below would be the Tanner Street side... the building with the scaffold is Bangla City Indian restaurant formally 'Lowry's Night Club' and before that 'Hyde Reform Club'.

This one is taken from what was part of Clarendon Street... I have often wondered about these walls... the tree are Cherry Trees... and when in bloom do look well... but even better than that are the cherries some of these tree's produce. The dark ones are very sweet and cook very well.

This area was once owned by Edward Hyde Clarke, and was know as Barn Field... looking at that area now it is very hard to imagine fields and barns.

House numbers were never a very popular idea in Britain, particularly in country areas, there is a scene in the 1950s film the Titfield Thunderbolt where one of the villagers is complaining that the bureaucrats will soon make them have house numbers in place of names. However from the later 1930s most towns had more or less settled down and the sequential numbers were increasingly in use.

Dave took these when visiting the Chapel Street area. I'm always on the look out for these when out and about so was pleased to see these plaques from Chapel Street. There's many to be spotted around our town, if you know of any I'd like to know to get a collection of there images saved on here.

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Mary Street was the home of my paternal grandparents Thomas and Sarah Wigley...... I can recall going there when my grandfather was alive so I was probably 3-4 years old at that time.. I recall sitting on his knee and his pocket watch and fob chain... He died in September 1962, 2 months after my 4th birthday. As for Mary Street I recall parts of the house and certain objects in it. I remember on the wall a picture of a coal mine... little did I realise it was Hyde Lane Pit... but more on that picture again.

I recall these steps very well

View From Clarke Way

My cousin Joyce lived on Mary Street with Gran and Granddad. The above picture was taken outside the family home when she was 8 years old, is now in her 70s. Joyce has a great memory and whenever the chance arises I gleam more information from her.

All these 'up to date' are courtesy of our very own photographer Dave Williams

This is the view looking back towards Clarke Way

On the left was Caxton Mill a building which had some beautiful features to it.

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Monday, 21 February 2011

Here is an interesting photo of St Stephen´s chuch in Flowery Field sent in by Rowan Hardman. It must have been taken around 1910 around Field Street Flowery Field. The old man is a relative of Rowan's, she says this is perhaps her great great great grandad. The markings on the church roof are very distinctive as is the shape of the steeple. This area where the chap stands would be where the school yard and car park for Hyde Technology is now. THANK YOU Again for sharing this great picture of man and church.

Another great photo from Dave, this one he took last year and he has still managed the 'perfect' shot... ha! cheers Dave.

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

The Iron Bridge stood over the railway lines at the end of Walker Fold and led to Bears Woods. I used to love running on to the bridge when a train was coming and stand over the passing train...The bridge was removed when the railway tracks were decommisioned and turned into part of the Pennine Trail.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Hattersley High School stood on Fields Farm Road in Hattersley. It was the only High school in Hattersley and was operational until it was closed and replaced by Alder Community High School in Gee Cross in 2003. It closed due to a combination of falling pupil numbers ,which was partially because of the population drop in the mid 1990's ,and parents opting to send their children to other High Schools in the area. I'm proud to say both my children attended this school (and Alder when Hattersley closed) and both came away with a great education and outlook on life thanks to very good ,caring teaching staff.

Monday, 14 February 2011

Dave took these pictures a week of two back of this house at the far end of Albert Road, it bares the name of 'North House'.

As can be seen here it is another gem of a house and comes complete with an old fashion stable/coach house block. The entrance faces Edna Street. These out buildings are very similar to the ones posted below by Nancy. It even looks like the woodwork is the same colour. I can't see a Dove Cote on this one, but the small arches are of interest, I think these would have housed glass but were bricked up at some time. All of us who have been involved in these posting realise buildings such as these are now a bit of a rarity in Hyde, and maybe now is the time to do them the honour of saving their charm and beauty in photographs and displaying them here for others to admire..... before they to are sold off as building plots. If you know of anything like this let us know... or get your camera out and write about the house, that way they can be seen by generations to come.

Saturday, 12 February 2011

Our friend John T. was in McKenzie's Auto Repairers in Kirkley Street off Dowson Road, in their waiting room John saw an A4 paper scanned copy of a postcard of Hyde with a view of the paddling pool at Hyde Park, which we'd recently featured. John asked Mark McKenzie if he could borrow it to copy and send to us. It is a great post card and thank you John for thinking of the blog.

Whilst he was talking, Mark related a story about the bottom left picture of the postcard that shows a view of The Lake at Pole Bank Hall. He said that a neighbour of his was taken to Pole Bank by his mother in the 1960's with a small red plastic battery operated boat. He launched the boat at on side of the lake and as it neared the far bank it sank! Last year whilst visiting his mother who was a resident in Pole Bank Nursing Home, he noted that the lake had been emptied and dredged and he wandered down with memories of the sad event over 40 years ago and lo and behold there was the red plastic boat on top of the pile of dredged mud and silt! Amazing. What a great story this is,John... I, too spent my happy times here as I know others from our group have. I saw the amount of silt which was removed last year... I read somewhere it was twice as much as was expected to be dredged out.

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Walking down Chapel Street this morning I saw a building which I've never noticed before. Looks like it could have been a stables with a hayloft or maybe even a Smithy!It might be more modern than I think but if it was built at the same time as the houses to which it is joined then it would have been around 1890-1900

I'm happy to see this lovely old quaint building is still standing when a lot of old property around it is being demolished to make way for new housing!

Note the cobbles are still intact,too!

If anyone has any information about this building please get in touch and let us know.

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

I spent many happy hours in this pool as a child, the place would have been full of children in the school holidays. All the mothers would be sat on the benches gossiping, some would be knitting and one or two would drop off for forty winks. All the children would be running about and the noise would have been very loud but still a chance for forty winks would have been gladly taken. Mums would have bought sandwiches and pop for a picnic... if we were good we'd get an ice cream from a van that would be parked up. Now and then as a rare treat we'd have our dinner in the cafe... normally when the gas or electric metre had been emptied and mum was a bit flush as she called it. We always got treated when the metres were emptied and we'd look forward to seeing the 'metre man' in the street.

Summer time in the park meant playing on the swings, and slide, making castles in the sand pit. watching crown green bowling, and brass bands playing on the bandstand, even running wild in woodlands. The thing I liked the most was the small train which was kept in a shed at the far end of the play area, near the railings on Park Road. This was proper fun for a small boy... and if you were lucky the driver would let you wear his hat... Ha! I bet he always had 'nits' thinking back now. I was very sad when we visited the park and was told the train had gone. I am not sure if it is now at Manor Park, Glossop or a Garden Centre at Poyton... I must have heard that some where. I also remember the big drinking fountain near to the paddling pool... the water was always cold... most welcoming after running about in the sunshine. If you have pictures of the park please send them in so we can make a collection of them here... and as always your memories of the park would make the post that bit more special. .

Monday, 7 February 2011

I bought a number of postcards and photo's from off Ebay a while back and this one had Farm Worker Godley Hyde on the back. Seeing as we have done a few posts from this area I wonder if anyone can throw some light on this.

Sunday, 6 February 2011

This charming photo was sent to us by Derek Deeley.
It shows Godley School in 1885. All the children dressed up in their finest clothes by the looks of things. A couple of faces look quite familiar - I wonder if I know any of their descendents?

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Tom, Dave, Paul and I would like to say thank you to everyone for contributing to this blog in some small way - even if that means just reading it! It's been more of a success than we could ever have dreamt of and that's all down to you ! It was our intention to get Hyde "on the record" as it were and it seems to be heading in the right direction. We are very proud of Hyde and would like it's history to live on!